- Past Event Highlights
- Article
Measuring Attention and Outcomes for Audio Advertising
Mike Follett – CEO, Lumen
Joanne Leong – Global Head of Planning, Dentsu
Lumen and Dentsu measured attention in audio. Audio is obviously a key component, but the main challenge is how to create attention metrics for audio that can be comparable to visual? Can eye tracking be applied to audio, and if so how? Previous research shows that ads have to be noticed to drive results. Not necessarily looked at. There is a need for some form of attention to make ads work. Seventy percent of viewable ads are not viewed and as such do not sell. Research also shows that longer ads drive better outcomes in terms of prompted recall and choice uplift. Visual eye movements are a part of this but only the first part of the process that may lift to memory and action. At Lumen they measure 1) how many ads are viewable for the user; 2) whether they are viewable (=MRC); 3) % viewed; 4) view time in seconds; 5) APM in seconds; 6) cost per attentive impression. Eye tracking works by taking videos of eyes while on screen—simple behavioral metric. After this they ask questions and understand the relationship between eye movements and other measures. Audio works differently. We lack information about the percent of people who listened and average listening time, but we can infer from visual attention. This is, thus, an audio-visual equivalence. How much visual attention would generate same recall from audio? According to the presenters, inferential model seems to work quite well. They infer likely levels of audio attention from several factors: exposure time, brand recall, choice uplift, forced vs. voluntary. Methodology: They measured people listening to radio, podcasts and streaming audio services. There were three forms of audio advertisements, thousands of people from whom to collect audio and recall data and infer how much visual attention would have been needed to do the same. Finding: Attention metrics are equivalent for audio. This data is built into Dentsu’s planning tools when their trading teams are contemplating which media to buy. The research shows that audio generates attention at a lower cost. In a digital world, it is about measuring live campaigns, and planners and clients are used to getting impression-level data about viewability or audibility. Audio industry has the ability to supply this data. Individual data on podcasts and streaming could help demonstrate the true power of audio campaigns. Challenge to industry: now that the potential power has been demonstrated we need to get impression level data to be able to measure live campaigns. Key takeaways:- Radio is an extremely cost-effective way of reaching people and driving outcomes.
- We have benchmarks, we want measurement, we need impression-level data.
- Combine attention data with outcomes data to tell a compelling story.
